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Men's Football Pardew concerned with crazy transfer prices

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez is close to moving to Manchester United for a reported weekly wage of £500,000

WEST BROM boss Alan Pardew slammed football today for “losing the plot” in regards to the money spent on transfers.

The Albion manager is concerned where the extra cash is going and that football is not benefiting from the huge sums being spent.

Alexis Sanchez is close to moving to Manchester United for a reported weekly wage of £500,000, with United apparently ready to pay over £30 million and shell out £10m in agents’ fees.

Pardew drew comparisons with Theo Walcott’s move to Everton — who Albion face in the Premier League tomorrow — for around £20m and feels the money spent is a worry.

“It’s very difficult with the prices now to gauge what’s good value,” he said.

“We live in a hyper-inflated world because of the TV money received by the football clubs. Therefore, transfers and wages are going way out of kilter with real life.

“I think we’re all losing the plot with the figures. It’s just becoming, ‘Oh OK,’ and not even reacting to things any more.

“If you are a fan of British or European football, you would have a concern about how much money is actually being paid outside of the game.

“Because if you pay £20m to Arsenal for Theo Walcott, that’s great.

“That’s going back into the game and Arsenal might spend that on a player at Northampton or a player at Stevenage, which they are looking at right now.

“It is just the other money that is going out of the game and obviously Paul Pogba’s transfer was an indication of the type of scale of money that is not being regenerated into the game. It is a concern for anybody who loves football.”

Albion are yet to receive any bids for Jonny Evans, who they value at around £30m, despite fielding tentative enquiries earlier in the window.

They do not want to sell on deadline day and leave themselves short and Zamalek defender Ali Gabr is a loan option should they lose Evans, with Manchester City and Arsenal interested.

“From my point of view, there’s been no bid so there’s nothing to discuss,” Pardew added.

“We have scenarios that are going to time out if we don’t get a bid for Jonny that’s acceptable for Jonny and for us.”